Activist arrested after photographing Thad Cochran’s bedridden wife

A Mississippi political activist has been arrested for allegedly breaking into the nursing home of Sen. Thad Cochran’s wife and photographing Rose Cochran without her consent, the Clarion-Ledger newspaper reported Saturday.

Rose Cochran has lived in the St. Catherine’s Village facility since 2000 and suffers from progressive dementia, the Jackson-based newspaper said.

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The suspect, identified as 28-year-old Clayton Thomas Kelly, maintains a political blog where he has posted statements attacking the senator and advocating for his defeat in the June 3 Republican primary. Referring to himself online as “Constitutional Clayton,” Kelly has railed against the United Nations and written in support of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s standoff with the federal Bureau of Land Management.

A source close to the senator confirmed that Kelly posted an image of Rose Cochran online as part of a video attacking her husband.

The Cochran campaign referred a request for comment to the senator’s personal attorney, Donald Clark of the firm Butler Snow. In an email, Clark said the senator’s attorneys contacted law enforcement when they believed a crime had been committed.

“Recently, an unauthorized picture of Senator Cochran’s wife was posted on the internet as part of a video. The picture was taken inside of Mrs. Cochran’s room near her bedside. Senator Cochran asked our firm to represent him in this matter,” Clark said. “The police conducted an investigation, still in progress, resulting in the arrest last night. As you can imagine, Senator Cochran’s first concern was that of the safety of his wife as well as the invasion of her privacy and dignity. We also reported the matter to St. Catherine’s who we understand is conducting their own investigation.”

The arrest comes with only a few weeks left in the heated and increasingly vicious primary battle between Cochran and his intra-party challenger, conservative state Sen. Chris McDaniel.

In a statement, McDaniel denounced Kelly and said he had “reached out to Sen. Cochran directly to express my abhorrence for the reprehensible actions of this individual.

“This criminal act is deeply offensive and my team and I categorically reject such appalling behavior. My thoughts and prayers are with Sen. Cochran and his family,” he said in the statement. “Politics is about the exchange of ideas and this type of action has no place in politics whatsoever and will not be tolerated.”